Bill Rutherford

Rutherford was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys, Morpeth and the University of Liverpool where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry in 1976. He moved to University College London (UCL) where he was awarded a PhD in 1979 for electron paramagnetic resonance studies of photosynthetic electron transport in purple bacteria{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/0014-5793(79)80357-9| title = A high potential semiquinone-iron type EPR signal in Rhodopseudomonas viridis| journal = FEBS Letters| volume = 100| issue = 2| pages = 305–308| year = 1979| last1 = Rutherford | first1 = A. W. | last2 = Evans | first2 = M. C. W. | s2cid = 83568090| doi-access = free| bibcode = 1979FEBSL.100..305R}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/0014-5793(79)80820-0| title = The high potential semiquinone-iron signal in Rhodopseudomonas viridis is the specific quinone secondary electron acceptor in the photosynthetic reaction centre| journal = FEBS Letters| volume = 104| issue = 2| pages = 227–230| year = 1979| last1 = Rutherford | first1 = A. W. | last2 = Evans | first2 = M. C. W. | s2cid = 84417573| doi-access = free| bibcode = 1979FEBSL.104..227R}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 228655

| pmc = 1161333

| year = 1979

| last1 = Rutherford

| first1 = A. W.

| title = Electron-paramagnetic-resonance measurements of the electron-transfer components of the reaction centre of Rhodopseudomonas viridis. Oxidation—reduction potentials and interactions of the electron acceptors

| journal = The Biochemical Journal

| volume = 182

| issue = 2

| pages = 515–23

| last2 = Heathcote

| first2 = P

| last3 = Evans

| first3 = M. C.

| doi=10.1042/bj1820515

}}{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Aflred William|last=Rutherford |title=Electron paramagnetic resonance studies of photosynthetic electron transport in purple bacteria |website=london.ac.uk|publisher=University of London |year=1979 |url=http://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/record=b3010073|oclc=500554060|authorlink=Bill Rutherford}} supervised by Michael C.W. Evans.

Rutherford's research{{Cite journal

| pmid = 10387064

| year = 1999

| last1 = Hanley

| first1 = J

| title = Carotenoid oxidation in photosystem II

| journal = Biochemistry

| volume = 38

| issue = 26

| pages = 8189–95

| last2 = Deligiannakis

| first2 = Y

| last3 = Pascal

| first3 = A

| last4 = Faller

| first4 = P

| last5 = Rutherford

| first5 = A. W.

| doi = 10.1021/bi990633u

}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1021/ja00148a013| title = G-Values as a Probe of the Local Protein Environment: High-Field EPR of Tyrosyl Radicals in Ribonucleotide Reductase and Photosystem II| journal = Journal of the American Chemical Society| volume = 117| issue = 43| pages = 10713–10719| year = 1995| last1 = Un | first1 = S. | last2 = Atta | first2 = M. | last3 = Fontecave | first3 = M. | last4 = Rutherford | first4 = A. W. | bibcode = 1995JAChS.11710713U}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 2669240

| year = 1989

| last1 = Rutherford

| first1 = A. W.

| authorlink1 = Bill Rutherford

| title = Photosystem II, the water-splitting enzyme

| journal = Trends in Biochemical Sciences

| volume = 14

| issue = 6

| pages = 227–32

| doi=10.1016/0968-0004(89)90032-7

}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 11701322

| year = 2001

| last1 = Rutherford

| first1 = A. W.

| title = Herbicide-induced oxidative stress in photosystem II

| journal = Trends in Biochemical Sciences

| volume = 26

| issue = 11

| pages = 648–53

| last2 = Krieger-Liszkay

| first2 = A

| doi=10.1016/s0968-0004(01)01953-3

}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 2557913

| year = 1989

| last1 = Boussac

| first1 = A

| title = EPR signals from modified charge accumulation states of the oxygen evolving enzyme in Ca2+-deficient photosystem II

| journal = Biochemistry

| volume = 28

| issue = 23

| pages = 8984–9

| last2 = Zimmermann

| first2 = J. L.

| last3 = Rutherford

| first3 = A. W.

| doi=10.1021/bi00449a005

}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.bbabio.2011.07.012| pmid = 21835158| title = Charge separation in Photosystem II: A comparative and evolutionary overview| journal = Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics| volume = 1817| issue = 1| pages = 26–43| year = 2012| last1 = Cardona | first1 = T. | last2 = Sedoud | first2 = A. | last3 = Cox | first3 = N. | last4 = Rutherford | first4 = A. W. | doi-access = free}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1515/green-2013-0007| title = Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels – an Evolving Research Field within AMPEA, a Joint Programme of the European Energy Research Alliance| journal = Green| volume = 3| year = 2013| last1 = Thapper | first1 = A. | last2 = Styring | first2 = S. R. | last3 = Saracco | first3 = G. | last4 = Rutherford | first4 = A. W. | last5 = Robert | first5 = B. | last6 = Magnuson | first6 = A. | last7 = Lubitz | first7 = W. | last8 = Llobet | first8 = A. | last9 = Kurz | first9 = P. | last10 = Holzwarth | first10 = A. | last11 = Fiechter | first11 = S. | last12 = De Groot | first12 = H. | last13 = Campagna | first13 = S. | last14 = Braun | first14 = A. | last15 = Bercegol | first15 = H. | last16 = Artero | first16 = V. | doi-access = free | hdl = 1887/3422631 | hdl-access = free }} investigates: {{centred pull quote|the water oxidising enzyme Photosystem II in terms of its mechanism, its assembly and its evolutionary relationships with other photosynthetic reaction centres. This enzyme has become the focus of attention because cheap water splitting catalysts are urgently needed in the energy sector for solar fuel production, electrolysis of water and the reverse reaction in fuel cells. My research has made major contributions to understanding this enzyme before it was either popular or profitable. Now that it is finally becoming both of those, I hope to continue to do more of the same. Not just because it might contribute to solving aspects of the energy crisis but also because understanding the enzyme, which put the energy into the biosphere, the oxygen into the atmosphere and thence changed the planet, is one of the greatest challenges in biology and chemistry. It is also a fun enzyme to work on.}}

Rutherford's research has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC),{{cite web|url=http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/person/0C2FCFB0-48FB-482D-9B7A-199F64ED871F|author=Anon|year=2014|location=Swindon|title=UK Government research grants awarded to Alfred William Rutherford|website=rcuk.ac.uk|publisher= Research Councils UK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314152113/http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/person/0C2FCFB0-48FB-482D-9B7A-199F64ED871F|archive-date=2017-03-14}} the Wolfson Foundation and the Royal Society.{{cite journal|last1=Faunce|first1=Thomas A.|authorlink2=Wolfgang Lubitz|last2=Lubitz|first2=Wolfgang|last3=Rutherford|first3=A. W. (Bill)|last4=MacFarlane|first4=Douglas|last5=Moore|first5=Gary F.|last6=Yang|first6=Peidong|last7=Nocera|first7=Daniel G.|last8=Moore|first8=Tom A.|last9=Gregory|first9=Duncan H.|last10=Fukuzumi|first10=Shunichi|last11=Yoon|first11=Kyung Byung|last12=Armstrong|first12=Fraser A.|last13=Wasielewski|first13=Michael R.|last14=Styring|first14=Stenbjorn|title=Energy and environment policy case for a global project on artificial photosynthesis|journal=Energy & Environmental Science|volume=6|issue=3|year=2013|pages=695|issn=1754-5692|doi=10.1039/c3ee00063j}}

Rutherford was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2014. His nomination reads: {{centred pull quote|Bill Rutherford has made seminal contributions that provided deep insights into the structure and function of photosynthetic reaction centres, in particular Photosystem II (PSII). He was the first to propose that PSII had the same basic structure as the simpler, non-oxygenic purple bacterial reaction centre. This key conceptual change became accepted thanks to his important experimental contributions. He went on to discover key features of PSII that differentiate it from other reaction centres. The current understanding of PSII owes a great deal to his incisive experiments and thinking.{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/bill-rutherford-12216/ |title=Professor Bill Rutherford FRS |publisher=royalsociety.org |author=Anon |year=2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117102200/https://royalsociety.org/people/bill-rutherford-12216/ |archive-date=2015-11-17 |location=London |url-status=dead }} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{quote|"All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies |access-date=2016-03-09 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111170346/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |archive-date=2016-11-11 }}}}}}

Rutherford has also been awarded the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, the Médaille d'argent of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in 2001 and was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2001.{{cite web|url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.rutherford|title=Professor Bill Rutherford, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences|publisher=Imperial College London|first=Bill|last=Rutherford|year=2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314152713/http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.rutherford|archive-date=2017-03-14}} On 25 January 2013 Rutherford received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Science and Technology at Uppsala University, Sweden.{{Cite web|title = New honorary doctorates in science and technology – Uppsala University, Sweden|url = http://www.uu.se/en/research/grants-awards/article/?id=2263&area=12,16&typ=artikel&lang=en|website = uu.se|access-date = 2016-02-03}}

Rutherford is a musician and has been a member of The Baskervilles Blues Band{{Cite book | isbn = 0748404163 | title = Biochemists' Song Book | last1 = Baum | first1 = Harold | year = 1995 | publisher = CRC Press | url = http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofBiologicalSciences/People/DrAGalkin/Bioenergetics/TheBiochemistsSongbook/| oclc = 191661780|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304125101/http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofBiologicalSciences/People/DrAGalkin/Bioenergetics/TheBiochemistsSongbook/|archive-date=2016-03-04|website=qub.ac.uk }}{{cite web|url=http://baskervillesbluesband.com|publisher=baskervillesbluesband.com|title=Baskervilles Blues Band|author=Anon|year=2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314152743/http://baskervillesbluesband.com/|archive-date=2017-03-14}} and Baskerville Willy.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810163400/http://baskervillewilly.com/band.php |archive-date=2015-08-10 |url=http://baskervillewilly.com/band.php |publisher=baskervillewilly.com |author=Anon |year=2015 |title=Baskerville Willy: the Blues, but not as we know it |url-status=dead }}{{Who's Who | title=RUTHERFORD, Prof. Alfred William, (Bill) | id = U281949 | volume = 2015 | edition = online Oxford University Press|location=Oxford}}

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Category:Living people

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holders

Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool

Category:Alumni of University College London

Category:Academics of Imperial College London

Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization

Category:1955 births